Paris 16 May

Today we set off early to try to beat the queues at the Eiffel Tower, it probably took about twenty minutes to buy the tickets and get through security which was not too bad, and we got up to level 2 OK, but then we had to queue for ages to catch the lift to the top, and the wind was freezing.  We got there eventually and got an amazing view across Paris.  We then had to queue to get down again! Then we headed back to Notre Dame area where there was some sort of bread baking competition going on so we had lovely ham and cheese baguettes for lunch.  We then joined a queue for Sainte-Chapelle and were about six from the entrance when they closed it as it was 1pm when it closes for 1 and a half hours. As today is Monday a lot of other attractions were closed so we headed towards the Galeries Lafayette which is a very upmarket department store in a fantastic building. Sabine was happy to find real shops rather than the plethora of souvenir shops in the tourist areas.  Had a look at some more churches then headed home, we have worked out the Metro, it is a very efficient system with trains every two minutes and very easy to change lines to get where you need to go.  Paris seems to be a very safe and orderly city and we feel very comfortable.